balthazar

because.... the media... SUCKS!!!

Why is the hot link dead for me?

I fix stuff all the time, everywhere. Been in the construction (and excavation) business for 6 years now. Toilet- if I understand you correctly: Try spraying some WD-40 on the top of the pipe where the metal arm/lever shuts off & on the water. This is where corrosion/scale from hard water gums up the switch (under the arm). The 'donut' float goes down with the water and it's the switch up top that gets stuck, not the float. Making the float heavier is counter-productive.

No Saleen S7? And this kills me: "Koenigsegg CCX $600,910". Really now... at this stratospherically arbitrary price, what's with the $910 extra??

Agreed, and so does '60s BMWs.

I think this one has been on here before and (without checking) I think the answer is Cadillac.

There's really just one bit of wackiness in question here.There was the intermediate Fairlane and the compact Falcon in '68-69. However, the Maverick debuted in mid-'69, sucking off the Falcon buyers. So in '70, the Falcon name became the new base Fairlane (only as a 2-dr sedan). This was a Fairlane body with a Falcon name. This '70 Fairlane Falcon was available (and some were built) with full-tilt performance options, which for '70 would go all the way up to the Super Cobra Jet 429. 'Falcon' nameplate was gone for '71. Nothing out of the ordinary otherwise, tho the above is a bit unorthodox.

I've had the 'dead radio' scenario happen about 5 times in 12 years on my F-150. I just shut off the truck and turn it back on and everything's good for a few more years. Wierd- almost seems like it doesn't 'boot up' or something.

Stewart is great. Saw a sketch recently: a take-off of the Actor's Studio with Tara Reid guesting that was damned funny- Lipton kept getting hit in the head with a studio light and was completely looped. A number of seasons back they had this guy come out shirtless, I think wearing a kilt, all jacked up, and would yell at the audience, alternating between 'KNOW WHAT I HATE?' and 'KNOW WHAT I LIKE?', adding weird observations- funny S. Good show.

That's IT?? That's the most criticism lapham could muster? Guess it's not yet fashionable to throw stones yet. "Toyota isn't invincible"- what fool believes this?? >>"You can forgive the engine-sludge mess because Toyota eventually came clean and tried to make things right with most of the customers it earlier had blamed for not taking proper care of their cars. "<< Uhh, no. That's like a violent criminal standing up in court, proclaiming he's sorry, and the judge saying: "What? You're sorry, you say? Why didn't you speak up earlier? Case dismissed." toyota tried to get away with their responsibility, when they couldn't, they backpedaled. The defect cover-up, the exact same MO that mitsu used, is yet another attempt to weasle out of responsibility, all the more reprehensible when your company could readily afford to build a limited run of solid gold cars.

This is really getting good! Are the 2 recalls responsible for the 3% stock drop, or is the market in a general downturn?

It probably won't; what with mercedes' recent quality efforts. But the frameless glass on my ex '65 Bonneville 4-dr hardtop fit perfectly. 68- there's no need to incur a used mercedes and all that baggage when you already own a cool hardtop. Howsabout instead of dumping hard cash on that pig, you spring for some chrome plating for the S88?

It looks very nice so far. Question: I suppose "AIRBAG" (or "SRS") emblems are legal requirements, because it seems a shame to engineer a completely hidden AB yet have to advertise it. I'm assuming that's what that emblem says; can't quite read it.

Excellent point, Fly. List is disposable fluff. And regardless of what a government employee may have declared determines an 'American' car is, for me it all boils down to where the parent corporation is headquartered & legally declared.

I really hope to witness the rapid & thorough implosion of toyota. Would hold more interest for me than all the championship sporting events combined, plus the Olympics and reality TV. So far, they're off to a solid start.

We have a Tech section? I would contribute, but the bulk of my experience is probably more hands-on than most questions would probably deal with. IE; I can give a good overview of pulling a body off the frame, but I don't see that question coming from the members here. I've done an awful lot over the years, tho. Give it a go.

Wait... they're not hardtops? Hm-mmm.... no likey.

Like an American flag sticker on a toyota?

I'd sure like to see something on it or a reliable source mentioning it.

Hear that 'S-sssss' sound? That's the tiny snowball at the top of the hill, rolling slowly but surely down the mountainside, growing slowly larger and larger and larger.....

>>"Safety, structual integrity, and wind noise."<< Gonna haveta speak out on this, too. A hardtop is more safe than a roadster anyday. One down. Wind noise is primarily dicated by the A-pillar/ windsheild/ mirrors. The airflow would be relatively layered and fluid by the B-pillar area. Done well, there is no more airstream projection from a 4-dr hardtop than a modern 4-dr sedan: everything's pretty flush. Two down. The primary reason a modern hardtop has any structural issues is because the windshields are laid so far back. The B-pillar helps support the front of the compartment that no degree of A-pillar strength in a hardtop would in the event of a rollover. I would still prefer to make than choice myself, but I'll give you this one.

Well, Buick was in 5th place in '58, 7th in '59 and 9th in '60, so a case could be made for the names having notable effect (I only believe it to a minority extent). The Special of '61 is what began turning things around; an entirely new segment. I wonder if the dealer interviewed up top ever sells as many 'foreign brand' cars a month as he sold Pontiacs in the past. Since he seems to think everything's the same from 'then' to now except the Pontiacs...

Took a look at the wiki Fiero entry... Now I'm no authority on the Fiero (it's too new for my area of interest), but according to my sources: wiki : "Once a dream... in 1969 with the code name of "X-4"" I never heard of a '69-ish X-4... wiki : "Fiero -- meaning "fierce" in Italian -- was finally designed by Hulki Aldikacti as a Pontiac sports car. > My source says 'Fiero' translates to 'very proud'... >Fiero was also designed from the onset as a notable "efficient" car, not as a sports car. > Aldikacti was moreso the remote 'foreman' of the outside enginering firm that developed the Fiero. Styling was headed by John Shinella (exterior) and Bill Scott (interior). Entire project was pushed enthusiastically by PMD's GM Robert Stempel ('78-80). wiki ; "Though originally designed with its own suspension and brakes, the "bean counters" at GM forced the use of off-the-shelf components which severely limited the Fiero's performance envelope." My sources list no such 'original sports car suspension' but do mention the car through development used the corporate parts bins extensively to control costs. Entry reads with a bit too much editorialism for my tastes ("Sagniaw, where the measure was by the ton, not by quality"- my ass).

Oh, OK, I know what's going on here. THIS is the car in question: This was shown on the '68 show circuit as the "Firebird of Tomorrow", and was refreshed for the '69 show circuit and renamed "Fiero". More pics here: http://www.desoto58.com/dreamcar/dreampont69a.html This appears to be a shortened, 2-seat 1st gen Firebird, tho obviously heavily reworked. I still have not encountered anything called "X-4". I smell another factual dud from wikipedia... Ironically, the Fiero name was reused from a '69 showcar, and the original Fiero name choice, Pegasus, was originally planned to be used on a Pontiac version of the Corvair. This car kept rising from the ashes like a... a... Phoenix or something... IMO if we're looking for the spiritual ancestor to the Fiero, we would go back thru it's beggining planning stages in '75, back thru the FoT/Fiero of '69, back thru the extensive 2-seat Banshee program of circa '64 and land plumb behind the wheel of the '54 Bonneville Special.

Another thing- while I don't see cannabalization per say, there are only so many roadsters the market can soak up, period. I believe a Solstice coupe would accomplish far more than a saab roadster.